In 2013, the top 5 official silver coin sales topped 98 million oz.
The U.S. mint came in first place by selling 42.6 million Silver Eagles, while Canadian Maples came in second at 28.2 million oz followed by 14.5 million Philharmonics, 8 million (est) Silver Pandas and 5.3 million in Australian Kookaburra’s, Koala’s and Lunar Silver Snake sales.Total of the top 5 official silver coin sales were 98.7 million. Again, these figures represent their top-selling official coins. This does not include other silver bullion coin and numismatic sales.Thus, the market purchased 27 times more official silver coins than official gold coins in 2013.With a high ratio of 27 to 1 set last year, 2014 may break that record in flying colors. So far this year, the U.S. Mint has sold 19.8 million Silver Eagles compared to 193,000 oz of Gold eagles. This is a 102 to 1 ratio.

With the results finally out, the market overwhelmingly chooses to purchase official silver coins over gold. I was patiently waiting for the Austrian Mint to publish their 2013 Annual Report releasing the gold and silver Philharmonic sales for the year.

Unfortunately, the Austrian Mint’s 2013 Annual Report will not be released until July, however, their Director of Marketing and Sales providing me the figures on the total gold and silver sales for 2013. I received the figure for the silver Philharmonics but only a total amount of gold sold by the mint… including other coins and bars. So, I estimated their 2013 gold Philharmonic sales.

According to all the data released by the Official Mints, here are the top 5 gold coin sales:

The Gold Maple Leaf sales took first place at 1,140,000 oz while the Gold Eagle came in second at 856,500 oz, followed by an estimated 750,000 oz of South African Krugerrands, 544,000 oz of Gold Philharmonics, and 460,082 Gold Pandas.

The total top 5 Official Gold coins sales were 3,750,582 oz. Of course this was not the only gold sold by these official mints as other gold bullion, bars and numismatics were purchased as well.

For instance, the Austrian Mint sold a total of 1,388,700 oz of gold bullion and coin products in 2013 up from 1,020,900 oz in 2012.

Now, let’s compare official gold coin sales to silver. In 2013, the top 5 official coin sales topped 98 million oz.

The U.S. mint came in first place by selling 42.6 million Silver Eagles, while Canadian Maples came in second at 28.2 million oz followed by 14.5 million Philharmonics, 8 million (est) Silver Pandas and 5.3 million in Australian Kookaburra’s, Koala’s and Lunar Silver Snake sales.

Total of the top 5 official silver coin sales were 98.7 million. Again, these figures represent their top-selling official coins. This does not include other silver bullion coin and numismatic sales.

Thus, the market purchased 27 times more official silver coins than official gold coins in 2013.

With a high ratio of 27 to 1 set last year, 2014 may break that record in flying colors. So far, the U.S. Mint sold 19.8 million Silver Eagles compared to 193,000 oz of Gold eagles. This is a 102 to 1 ratio.

I would imagine Silver Maple sales are probably just as strong as the Silver Eagles. As soon at the Royal Canadian Mint releases their Q1 2014 report, I will update their Gold & Silver Maple sales.

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To me, the Silver Maples are a better deal. 9999 fine silver vs. only 999 for the Eagles. And now, the Silver Maples have the great micro grooves and laser engraving, which helps eliminate the likelihood of getting stuck with fakes or Chinese counterfeits. The best part: The Silver Maples are cheaper. So it’s a no-brainer to go with the Silver Maples for me.

If I am going to buy a gold ounce, it’s 50/50 whether I’ll buy a coin or bar. And even in case of a coin, I can still decide to get a non-official one.
The total the Austrian Mint sold is much more relevant than the share in gold coins.
Until someone makes an effort to track evvery ounce of silver and gold sold for retail, we will never have a decent guess what the supply/demand is.

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